Octopus Smart Meter installation- dual band hub or booster?

christmaslights

Does anyone have experience of smart meter installations where the electricity and gas meters are too far apart and cannot communicate on the HAN via the standard setup? My neighbour had this problem and her installer put in a dual band hub which fixed the issue. I’ve had smart meters installed recently, have encountered the same problem, and asked Octopus to do something similar for me. After a number of phone calls and Twitter messages they’ve said that they will do this but that they cannot give me a timeframe because the hubs are in short supply at the moment. So I guess it could be this month, 6 months time, or never!   Another possible solution described on the Octopus website is a booster called an AltHAN which uses your home wiring to boost the signal, but no one at Octopus has suggested this to me.  Does anyone have any advice on what I should be asking Octopus to do?    This is my first experience of Octopus Customer Services and I have been a bit disappointed by the lack of information.

QrizB

christmaslights said:

Does anyone have experience of smart meter installations where the electricity and gas meters are too far apart and cannot communicate on the HAN via the standard setup?

Not personally, but it's not uncommon. Usually the smart meter installer will fit a smart electricity meter but leave the gas meter dumb.

Is this what happened to you? Do you still have a dumb gas meter, or is it smart? If smart, is it actually commissioned?

christmaslights said:

After a number of phone calls and Twitter messages they’ve said that they will do this but that they cannot give me a timeframe because the hubs are in short supply at the moment. So I guess it could be this month, 6 months time, or never!

If the equipment isn't available, it isn't available. Your supplier's CS staff can't change that.

christmaslights said:

Does anyone have any advice on what I should be asking Octopus to do?  This is my first experience of Octopus Customer Services and I have been a bit disappointed by the lack of information.

You could put up with it as it is. Eventually (probably after 2025) Ofgem will start giving suppliers targets to have smart meters operating in smart mode, and you'll be swept up then.

Or you could make a note to contact Octopus every 3-4 months to remind them that you're waiting for a dual-band comms hub.

Or you could ask politely whether AltHAN IDs available, and whether you would be suitable.

christmaslights

Both meters were changed. The electricity meter is smart and is working fine. The gas meter has the potential to be smart but, as my installer told me, will need a bit of a boost to be able to communicate with the electricity meter and so become smart.  It has not yet been commissioned almost a month after installation.   

I am a bit suspicious when they say that the equipment is not available because I mentioned the possibility of needing a dual band hub to the intended installer (they sent a different installer on the day)  when he phoned the day before the installation and he said that would be no problem since he had one in his van! My neighbour’s installer, working for a different Energy company, seemed to have no problem getting hold of one a few weeks earlier either. 

I’d rather not wait until 2025 for the meter to become smart, nor do I think I should.  Both my next door neighbour and upstairs neighbour had working smart gas meters almost from the day of installation and the distance between their meters is as great or greater than it is between mine. The only difference is that their meters were installed by different Energy companies and, as one installer told me, they each do their own thing. I’m disappointed  that Octopus, which portrays itself as a young, go-ahead, innovative company, in this aspect at least seems to have done less well than the others. 

Thanks anyway. 

Dolor

The gas meter has the potential to be smart but, as my installer told me, will need a bit of a boost

When a dual-band comms hub is fitted, the gas meter must also be dual-band capable. Standard installations are usually single band Zigbee only. Alt-HAN is designed primarily for high rise buildings not domestic installations.

QrizB

christmaslights said:

The only difference is that their meters were installed by different Energy companies and, as one installer told me, they each do their own thing. I’m disappointed  that Octopus, which portrays itself as a young, go-ahead, innovative company, in this aspect at least seems to have done less well than the others.

Very few installers work for the energy companies. Most are subcontractors, and as a result the energy companies have very little influence over what equipment they carry or fit.

christmaslights

Dolor 

When a dual-band comms hub is fitted, the gas meter must also be dual-band capable. Standard installations are usually single band Zigbee only. Alt-HAN is designed primarily for high rise buildings not domestic installations.

Thanks.  I was told by one of the people I talked to (not the installer) that all they would need to do is install a new hub.  No idea if the new gas meter is dual band capable or not. If not, then I will need a new gas meter as well. Useful to know. 

I read an article that said that Alt HAN was intended for high rise buildings, but the article on the Octopus website doesn’t mention that; it suggests that it can be installed in any property where the meters cannot communicate. https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/smart-meter-booster/

christmaslights

QrizB said:

Very few installers work for the energy companies. Most are subcontractors, and as a result the energy companies have very little influence over what equipment they carry or fit.

The installer arrived in a bright pink and purple Octopus van.  Doesn’t that mean anything?  A bit worrying if the energy companies just hand out these jobs to sub-contractors who can then install any bit of equipment they want without any sort of control or supervision if that’s what you are suggesting is what happens… 

Dolor

christmaslights said:

QrizB said:

Very few installers work for the energy companies. Most are subcontractors, and as a result the energy companies have very little influence over what equipment they carry or fit.

The installer arrived in a bright pink and purple Octopus van.  Doesn’t that mean anything?  A bit worrying if the energy companies just hand out these jobs to sub-contractors who can then install any bit of equipment they want without any sort of control or supervision if that’s what you are suggesting is what happens… 

It is not like that. The meters are owned by a Meter Asset Provider and leased by suppliers. Communications hubs - which contain high-level security protection - are managed by The Data Communications Company. Installers, working on behalf of a supplier, will fit what they are told to fit depending on meter availability and lease arrangements. 

Dual band comms hubs and gas meters have only recently become available. I know that Octopus has been fitting them in some areas. I suggest that you contact [email protected]

Suppliers are required to comply with The Smart Meter Installation Code of Practice. Ask Octopus to tell you what it intends to do to comply with the Code?

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/smicop_v7.3_-_final_01_jul_21.pdf

christmaslights

Suppliers are required to comply with The Smart Meter Installation Code of Practice. Ask Octopus to tell you what it intends to do to comply with the Code?

https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/smicop_v7.3_-_final_01_jul_21.pdf

Thanks for the link.  It is so useful to have some background information when you have to raise a query about something that until a month ago I knew nothing about.  I received a phone call from Octopus this morning and my dual band hub/gas meter installation is booked in for the end of September which is great. My confidence in Octopus, which was very high after the seemingly seamless transition from Bulb but dropped drastically with this experience, is now back up to high again.  

Twitter Message (I’m trying to ignore the awful X rebrand) seems to be the way to go to get results. Message raised on Monday, a conversation in which I explained everything in possibly too much detail, and an appointment set up on Wednesday. Prior to that, no useful response to an email and multiple phone calls to Customer Services. Though it’s possible that they were working in it behind the scenes and were just too busy to let me know.  Or if dual band hubs are a fairly new thing perhaps they just didn’t have the knowledge to help. 

I asked the helpful person on the phone what would have happened if I hadn’t followed this up. The new gas meter would never have been commissioned, would not have appeared under my account on the website, and so I would not have been able to submit readings and would have been subject to estimated readings until they finally realised that something was wrong and did something about it. Not a good situation. Always worth chasing these things. 

Dolor

You are rather assuming that everyone in CS is a smart meter expert. My understanding based now on over 5 years as an Octopus customer is that customer accounts are managed in cohorts by CS teams around the country. Each team may have one or two smart meter experts. That said, most smart meter issues are passed on to the metering team for action - hence, the delay. Their focus is primarily on getting smart meters installed to avoid an Ofgem fine. Until Ofgem brings in Guaranteed Performance Standards for rectifying smart meter faults, I cannot see this changing.